Astronomy Without A Telescope – How To Impress An Alien (Or Not)
Aerial view of the 300 metre diameter Arecibo radio telescope dish
It's about fifty years since Frank Drake sent out our first chat request to the wider universe. I say about as I think the official date is 11 April 1960 – but I notice a lot of fifty year anniversary blogs and interviews are already being published, so what the heck, I'm not waiting either.(...)
Read the rest of Astronomy Without A Telescope – How To Impress An Alien (Or Not) (571 words)
Weekend SkyWatcher's Forecast: March 19-21, 2010
Greetings, fellow SkyWatchers! As one hemisphere warms, another cools… and so our passion for astronomy can sometimes wax and wane. Why not rekindle your viewing spirit by enjoying some lunar targets this weekend? If you don't think identifying lunar features with a small pair of binoculars is exciting – then think on this: Using the most simple form of optics, you are viewing details on a distant world that's a quarter of a million miles away! So what are you waiting for? Get out your binoculars and get ready to enjoy… and I'll see you in the backyard. (...)
Read the rest of Weekend SkyWatcher's Forecast: March 19-21, 2010 (1,313 words)
Equinox Sky Show
NASA Science News for March 19, 2010
Grab your binoculars. The crescent Moon and the Pleiades star cluster are gathering for a beautiful close encounter on the first night of northern Spring.
FULL STORY at
http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2010/19mar_equinox.htm?list1035898
Finally, a
Artist’s impression of Corot-9b. Credit: ESO/L. Calçada
Chalk up another exoplanet discovery for the CoRoT satellite. But this planet, while a gas giant, could have temperatures cool enough to host liquid water. Corot-9b orbits a sun-like star at a distance similar to Mercury – one of the largest orbits of any extrasolar planet yet found, and may have an interior that closely resembles Jupiter and Saturn. “This is a normal, temperate exoplanet just like dozens we already know, but this is the first whose properties we can study in depth,” said Claire Moutou, who is part of the international team of 60 astronomers that made the discovery. “It is bound to become a Rosetta stone in exoplanet research.”
(...)
Read the rest of Finally, a "Normal" Exoplanet (320 words)
Secret Mini Space Shuttle Could Launch April 19
Illustration of the X-37 Advanced Technology Demonstrator during flight. Credit: NASA
It's cute. It's little. It's also top secret. The X-37B orbital test vehicle is at Cape Canaveral in Florida, and the word is that it will be launched on board an Atlas V rocket on Monday April 19, 2010 at around 10 pm EDT. Other than that, the Air Force isn't saying much about this mini-space shuttle look-alike. The reusable unmanned vehicle is capable of staying in orbit for 270 days, but the mission duration hasn't been announced. Additionally, the ship has a payload bay for experiments and deployable satellites, but no word if any payloads will be included on the inaugural flight of this mini space plane.
(...)
Read the rest of Secret Mini Space Shuttle Could Launch April 19 (248 words)
The Multiplying Mystery of Moonwater
NASA Science News for March 18, 2010
Researchers who once confidently stated that the Moon was bone-dry are now thinking the unthinkable: The Moon has so much water, there's actually a "lunar hydrosphere." International spacecraft have recently discovered no fewer than three "flavors" of moonwater and no one knows when the discoveries will end.
FULL STORY at
http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2010/18mar_moonwater.htm?list1035898
Did the Chilean Quake Shift Earth's Axis?
NASA Science News for March 11, 2010
Widespread press reports have noted that February's Chilean earthquake might have shortened Earth's day by a small amount. Today's story from Science@NASA explores a more significant effect---how the quake might have shifted Earth's axis.
FULL STORY at
http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2010/11mar_figureaxis.htm?list1035898
Spirit's Journey to the Center of Mars
NASA Science News for February 24, 2010
NASA's venerable Mars rover Spirit is starting a second career as an explorer of the Martian core--but first it must survive the perilous Martian winter.
FULL STORY at
http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2010/24feb_martiancore.htm?list1035898